Railway car ladder



March 3, 1953 K. F. NYSTROM 2,630,261

RAILWAY CAR LADDER Filed June 16. 1949 INVENTOR.

Patented Mar. 3, 1953 mesne assignments, to international Steel Company, LEvansville, Ind.,; a. -oorporation of Indiana Application June 16, 1949S'e rial'No J9,471

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements'in railway freight cars and more especially to theconstructicn of ladders for thewalls of said cars to afford a trainman easy access to theroof of such cars.

The principal objects of 'theinventionare to provide an improved railway freight car ladder which is of simple construction, easy and economic to manufacture, complies with all safety rules of the Interstate Commerce Commission andofthe Associationof American Railroads and is most readily-removed from the car as a unit in case a tread thereof, for example, is in need of repair or replacement.

A further object; of the invention is to provide a construction of ladder stile and ladder tread wherein the ends of said treads may be secured to said stiles by being passed through aligned holes in spaced parallel legs of said stiles and upset on both sides of said legs and holes to provide a very secure union of said treads to said stiles. This method of attaching the ladder tread to the stiles, which practically rivets the ends of the treads to the stiles, forms another object of the invention.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description thereof.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing formin part of this application and wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

Fig. 1 is a fragmental side elevation of one corner of a railway house car showing a front elevation of one of my improved ladders attached to the side of the car, and showing a side elevation of one of said ladders attached to the end of said car;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view on line 22, Fig. 1, showing in elevation an end of a ladder tread upset on opposite sides of a leg of a ladder stile;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the upper end of a stile and bracket showing a portion of a ladder tread secured thereto.

In the drawings:

The side sheathing of the car is indicated at H), the car side plate at H, roof at l2 and end wall at l3.

The improved ladder is adapted for attachment to either the side and/or end of the car, substantially as shown in Figure 1. The ladder comprises a pair of spaced angle ladder stiles, each stile comprising legs I4 and I5. The stiles are arranged so that legs i 5 extend in the same plane, which plane is parallel to the plane of the car -.2 sideorfend when mounted thereoniand with the legs -l i facing each other andiin parallel planes at right 'angles-to the planeof :legs 15. Legs t are :provided with: a plurality of similarly spaced holes .18 whichimaybe axially aligned solithatla ladder"v tread il l: :of' substantially the same diameter. as said holes .-.I6: may have oppositeends thereof :passed? through a pair-of -said aligned holes; as indicatedzin dottedi'lines at l8,'Fig.: 2,

.and then. the material of sa'id treads on opposite sides of said stiles l 3 gripped in jaws suitable for the purpose and electric current and pressure simultaneously appliedithereto. Suificient *heat is generated by contact resistance to allow the pressure to upset the end portions of the tread on opposite sides of the legs It, as shown at [9 in Fig. 2, and cause some fusion of the material with the edges of the hole, thereby practically riveting the ends of the tread to said legs of the ladder stiles.

The ladder thus formed is provided at each end of each stile with Z-shaped brackets, each of which comprises flanges 20 and 2!, occurring in spaced parallel planes, and a web portion 22 extending at an incline from one flange to the other, the angles between the web and flanges being acute. Flanges 20 are riveted fiatwise, as at 23, to the respective ends of the stiles and flanges 21 are provided with holes 24 for application therethrough of bolts or rivets 25 to secure the ladder structure to a car wall. The brackets just described are formed from strap material of a width substantially equal to the width of legs I5, and webs 22 extend over the ends of the stiles, contacting corners of the stiles I4 and are welded to said corners, as at 26. There is thus a triangular area, when the ladder i viewed in side elevation, between ends of legs I4 and the webs 22 affording a gusset section for increased strength.

I claim:

1. Mounting means for a ladder of the type comprising a pair of spaced angle stiles having legs extending in spaced parallel planes and coextensive with portions extending coplanar with respect to each other and supporting ladder treads therebetween, consisting of a Z-shaped bracket individual to each end of each of the stiles, each Z-shaped bracket having a pair of fiat ends interconnected by a laterally extending strip member where one flat end of each 2- shaped bracket is individually secured to each end of the coplanar portions of said angle stiles in a position in which said laterally extending strip member is spaced from the end of the stile at the secured end thereof, and wherein the other flat end of each Z-shaped bracket serves as a fastening means with respect to a supporting wall surface, the said strip members having a width substantially corresponding to the width of the associated coplanar portions of said stiles and projecting rearwardly therefrom beyond the inner peripheral edges of the parallel extending legs of said stiles, the inner faces of said strip members at opposite ends of said stiles being limited in the selective positioning thereof in one direction by contact abutment with the inner corners of the ends of said parallel extending legs for forming an attachable support for the ladder.

2. Mounting means for a ladder of the type comprising a pair of spaced angle stiles having legs extending in spaced parallel planes and coextensive with portions extending coplanar with respect to each other and supporting ladder treads therebetween, consisting of a bracket individual to each end of each of the stiles, each bracket having a pair of flat ends interconnected by a laterally extending strip member where one flat end of each bracket is individually secured to each end of the coplanar portions of said angle stiles in a position in which said laterally extending strip member is spaced from the end of the stile at the secured end thereof, and wherein the other flat end of each bracket serves as a fastening means with respect to a supporting wall surface, the said strip members having a width substantially corresponding to the width of the associated coplanar portions of said stiles and projecting rearwardly therefrom beyond the inher peripheral edges of the parallel extending legs of said stiles, the inner faces of said laterally extending strip members at opposite ends of said stiles being limited in the selective positioning thereof in one direction by contact abutment with the inner corners of the ends of said parallel extending legs for forming an attachable support for the ladder.

KARL F. NYS'I'ROM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 418,198 Lemp Dec. 31, 1889 902,331 Ryan Oct. 27, 1908 1,080,055 Goldsmith Dec. 2, 1913 1,109,100 Allen Sept. 1, 1914 1,134,087 Mathews et a1. Mar. 30, 1915 1,157,602 Trimyer Oct. 19, 1915 1,231,318 Wine June 26, 1917 1,421,372 Badger July 4, 1922 1,542,507 Kearney June 16, 1925 1,765,410 Folberth et al June 24. 1930 1,862,701 Moelter et al June 14, 1932 1,954,545 Uline Apr. 10, 1934 2,279,190 Wilkinson Apr. 7, 1942 2,315,739 Sale Apr. 6, 1943 2,361,706 Pavlecka et a1. Oct. 31, 1944 

